26 March 2015

The rainy
season in central Japan is unlike anywhere else I’ve ever lived before. Unlike the dreary endless rain of a winter in
central Germany where I currently live, or the dramatic thunder and lightning
storms of a summer in southwestern Ontario where I grew up, the Japanese rainy
season or “tsuyu”, is quite
refreshing. It is a steady rain that can
last all day long, but the weather is warm enough to make it bearable. Armed with a large umbrella and water
resistant shoes, one can go about one’s day-to-day life with ease.

Hirotoshi Iwasaki (岩崎宏俊, b. 1981), uses rain as the
central motif in his 2009 animated short Between
Showers. It opens with the sound of
a steady downpour. A young woman in a
sleeveless dress pauses, then opens her umbrella. After the title, there is a lovely sequence
of umbrellas opening like butterflies spreading their wings. Using what appears to be charcoal on paper,
Iwasaki draws a series of typical vignettes of the season: salarymen with their
jackets off with one man holding the umbrella for two, crowds of men rushing
through the streets, an umbrella-less woman pulling a suitcase wraps her scarf
around her head to protect her hair from the onslaught, a man walks at a leisurely
pace with his umbrella chatting on a keiai
denwa (cellphone), a man struggles to get his umbrella to open properly,
and a police officer dressed in a long raincoat keeps an eye on the
traffic. In an abstract sequence, people get swallowed
up into a swirl of water. The film ends with a single umbrella.

Iwasaki
moves in and out of vignettes with ease, managing to convey the essence of
spring / early summer rains with his spare lines. Between Showers won the Jury Prize at the ASK?
Film Festival at Art
Space Kimura in 2009 (Japan) and the Grand Prix at the Image Forum Festival 2010. Watch it on Vimeo.

Many
animators take an interest in early cinema technologies and often experiment
with them. In fact, their first “animations”
are often flip books drawn on the corners of school workbooks. References to early technologies can be found
in many animated films, from Taku
Furukawa and Kōji Yamamura’s experiments with the Phenakistoscope (see: Odorokiban
and Omake)
to Toshio Iwai’s 3D Zoetropes of Toy
Story (made with Gregory
Barsamian, who does a lot of
art inspired by early animation/cinema) and Bouncing Totoro at the
Ghibli Museum Mitaka.

The animator
/ artist Hirotoshi Iwasaki (岩崎宏俊, b. 1981), who just this week
won the Grand
Prix for Non-Narrative Short at HAFF for his latest work Dark Mixer (2014), built a Mutoscope out of iron in
2011. The Mutoscope is an early cinema
device which was patented in 1894 by the American inventor Herman Casler (1867-1939).
Instead of projecting on a screen, the Mutoscope creates the perception
of movement in the same way that a flip book does except, rather than being
bound like a book, the large cards (7 x 4.75cm) are attached to a circular
core. These were coin operated machines
that could be viewed by an individual through a single lens, as the poet Jared Carter describes in his 1993 poem
“Penny Arcade”: “The light goes out, the
ratchet handle stops, / along the tightrope stretched across the falls / the
cards collapse. Another penny crawls / into
the slot. The light blinks on. She hops, / she keeps her balance with a
parasol /and strikes an hourglass pose.” (read the whole poem)

Iwasaki’s
Mutoscope is a pared down version of the original – just the mechanical
structure of the device without it being encased in a coin-operated viewing
device. Instead of the approximately 850
cards used in the original machines, Iwasaki made just 16 images that
repeat. Interestingly, 16 frames per
second is the minimum frame rate needed for the phenomenon of persistence of
vision to work. With projected film,
anything slower would cause a flicker that soul be distracting to the spectator. I don’t know if this is why Iwasaki chose 16
frames, but it seems likely.

According to
his official
website, he made four sets of 16 images for the device: Phantom, Wave, Moon
and Bottom. The Mutoscope was exhibited
as part of his exhibition Invisible Time
at Gallery Terra Tokyo from 6
June – 23 July 2011. The event
description reads:

“Iwasaki constantly tries to turn invisible
existence - time, space and memory - into perceivable objects. He uses moving
images to make palpable what was formerly invisible, transcending language
barriers and producing a poetic atmosphere. This exhibition showcases works
that focus on the theme of “time” - in our memory, in a mirror, at the bottom
of a well.” (Source: TAB) Footage of Phantom and Wave in action can be
seen on Iwasaki’s Vimeo and Youtube channels.

Liu Xie, is the child of Emperor Ling of Han and his concubine, Consort Wang. Emperor Ling is dying and has only two surviving sons: Liu Xie and Liu Ban, his son by his wife Empress He. As the boys are just children, the people who control them are desperate to come to power. Things come to a head in this episode with Empress He arranging to have Liu Xie’s mother poisoned.

The Ten Attendants, also
known as the Ten Eunuchs十常侍 じゅうじょうじ

This is an influential group of eunuchs from the Eunuch Faction of the
Han Imperial Court. The most powerful of
these is Jian Shuo蹇碩 けんせ,
who wants Liu Xie to inherit the throne. Jian Shuo’s adversaries are:

This is the first episode to note the place names as well as the names of characters. I wonder if this was added due to the feedback of viewers. It is such an epic production that it is not always easy to follow where we are and with whom. Also in this episode they visually reintroduced characters' names in the second half for the first time.

Settings named on screen:

Someplace in Qian’an 安喜県の広場 あんきけんのひろば

Luoyang, capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty 洛陽の都 らくようのみやこ

Baby Prince Liu Bian’s Room べん皇子の部屋 べんおうじのへや

He Jin’s Residence 何進の屋敷 かしんのやしき

Outskirts of Qian’an 安喜県の町はずれ あんきけんのまちはずれ

Mei Fan’s Store 美芳の店 めいふぁんのみせ

Wang Yun’s Residence 王允の屋敷おういんのやしき

Lu Zhi’s
Residence 廬植の屋敷ろしょくのやしき

Episode 4, Part 1

History Interlude

Our hosts, Shinsuke Shimada and Ryūsuke
Matsumoto, are
still dressed in their striped sweaters.
I would have suspected they had shot the first few episodes all on the
same day except that Shimada seems to have come down with a severe cold this
week. I am curious to see whether or not
they wear the same sweaters for the whole series.

Our Kansai-ben speaking comedians remind us that the Yellow Turbans have finally been defeated and Liu
Bei is on the move. They display a map
behind them with key cities on it: Peking (aka Beijing /北京
/ ぺきん), Zhouzhou (琢郡/たくぐん), a place the Japanese call Takūken
(琢県/たくうけん),
Qian’an (安喜県/あんきけん)
and Luoyang (洛陽 / らくよう). Peking is the
capital in the north and Luoyang is the capital in the south in the Kingdom of
Wei.

After this
historical geography lesson, Shimada and Matsumoto bring out the puppet
versions of themselves, Shin-Shin
and Ron-Ron, and transition into the
drama.

Story

Setting: Someplace
in Qian’an 安喜県の広場 あんきけんのひろば

Shin-Shin and
Ron-Ron are singing the praises of the horse White Dragon (白竜/はくりゅう/Haku-ryū). Not all the onlookers are convinced by their
hyperbole, in the end they just laugh at them and leave. Ron-Ron moans that they will never succeed in
selling the horse. The young men are
tired from their long walk and their stomachs are growling. In their desperation, they approach White
Dragon with their knives drawn, contemplating slaughtering the horse for
food. Liu Bei (Gentoku) appears silently out of nowhere and tosses the
men to the ground. He opines that it is
immoral to kill an innocent horse.

Liu Bei seems quite taken by White Dragon and gives Shin-Shin and
Ron-Ron money for the blue-eyed, white-haired horse. Shin-Shin and Ron-Ron are delighted by their
change of luck. They head off before
Liu Bei can change his mind about buying the horse. Liu Bei observes that White Dragon has been
badly treated, but thinks that he can heal him.
Guan Yu (Kan-ū) and Zhang Fei (Chōhi) arrive. They admonish Liu Bei for wandering off on
his own when there are still Yellow Turbans lurking around. Zhang Fei remarks upon how malnourished and
wounded the horse is. White Dragon
reacts badly to Zhang Fei’s criticisms, causing Liu Bei and Guan Yu to
laugh.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have heard that things are not good in Luoyang
because two groups are vying for superiority.
Zhang Fei remarks that the peasants suffer when the well-to-do are in
conflict. Liu Bei worries about the fate
of his sensei (Lu Zhi, who we last
saw being taken off imprisoned in a cage in Episode 2)
in the capital.

Liu Xie (the future Emperor Xian of Han) cries in despair,
his mother, the beautiful Consort Wang,
has been poisoned by Empress He (Liu
Xie’s father’s wife). Jian Shuo (aka Kenseki), the leader of
the influential Ten Attendants, also
known as the Ten Eunuchs, enters the
room. He is shaking with rage at this
turn of events.

Cut to the bedroom of the baby Prince
Liu Bian (later Prince of Hongnong). Empress
He (aka Kakōgō) is laughing evilly: if the beautiful Consort Wang dies,
she’ll have all the power. Her brother He Jin (aka Kashin) says that what he
has done for her was quite dangerous.
She laughs and points out that the consequences will be beneficial for
him as well. They both laugh at their cunning
evilness.

Location: A Dark Riverbank.

Shin-Shin and Ron-Ron, in straw peasants’ hats, cut off men approaching
on horseback. They warn that the road
ahead is a dangerous one. It is Cao Cao and He Jin. Shin-Shin and Ron-Ron tell them that they
have heard that Jian Shuo is planning an assassination. He Jin doesn’t believe them but Cao Cao
thinks there may be a grain of truth to what the boys are telling them.

Men hidden in blankets ride horseback through the town. They are struck by arrows. Jian Shuo lifts
the blankets and discovers bales of hay: his plot to assassinate He Jin and Cao
Cao has been thwarted.

At He Jin’s
Residence:

He Jin paces back and forth, angered by the attempt on his life. He wants to hunt Jian Shuo down and have him
killed, but Cao Cao doesn’t think that would be a strategically wise move. Jian Shuo is a very powerful figure with many
followers, so they have to be cautious in how they deal with him. He Jin is steaming with anger, he wants to
act immediately, but Cao Cao counsels patience.

On the Outskirts
of Qian’an:

The Chief Inspector of the
Imperial Court arrives on horseback, he appears to be drinking and his
character can be deduced by the pig-like face puppet master Kihachirō Kawamoto
has given him. The music and his
behaviour suggests that he is meant to be a bit of comic relief after all this
talk about assassination.

Meanwhile, our
three heroes are dressed in matching blue kimono. They've gotten word that the Chief Inspector is
on his way to check up on things. Liu
Bei doesn’t think they have anything to worry about but Zhang Fei is suspicious
of pencil-pushing administrators. Zhang
Fei takes off in the hopes of avoiding the official. Guan Yu tries to calm him down, but Zhang Fei
is as impetuous as ever and cannot be halted.
Guan Yu curses Zhang Fei under his breath, causing Liu Bei to laugh in
amusement.

Liu Bei and Guan
Yu greet the Chief Inspector by respectfully bowing. Zhang Fei is nowhere to be seen. The Chief Inspector says that he is in no
hurry to do his inspection and suggests to Liu Bei that he is hoping to be
bribed with saké and women. Liu Bei
seems flustered – the Chief Inspector clearly doesn’t know that Liu Bei is a
gentleman of the Sir Lancelot variety.

Guan Yu shows the
Chief Inspector inside, but the Chief Inspector is disappointed to not find
saké and women awaiting him inside. Guan
Yu says that saké will be served with the meal.
The Chief Inspector seems to have been expected a massage, and Guan Yu
offers to do it himself – this is not, however, what the Chief Inspector had in
mind. Seriously displeased, the Chief
Inspector warns Guan Yu that he has the influence to get Liu Bei removed from
his current position.

Cut to White
Dragon and Liu Bei in the horse stall.
Guan Yu is filling Liu Bei in on what the Chief Inspector did. It reminds Liu Bei of all the things he hates
about life in the capital city. Liu Bei
and the horse have clearly become fond of each other. He tells the horse that he will set him free
when he has healed and warns him to keep his distance from people, as they will
only do him harm. A face appears in the
window – it is a spy for the Chief Inspector.
The inspector is disgruntled to learn that Liu Bei and Guan Yu have no
plans to bribe him.

The next day,
Zhang Fei returns with prisoners in tow. As he approaches the guards he brags loudly
about his easy successes but is shocked to be greeted with violence. Cut inside to the Chief Inspector with a
whip. Under threat of violence he is
trying to illicit information about Liu Bei from a local man. The local man praises the improved
circumstances of the town under Liu Bei’s leadership. This is not what the corrupt inspector wants
to hear, so he whips the man. Zhang Fei
appears in the window and overhears what’s going on. The inspector and his men are trying to force
the local man to sign a document. He
refuses and is whipped further. Zhang
Fei grabs the man’s arm to stop him. The
inspector’s men try to stop Zhang Fei but to no avail. He ties the inspector to a post and gives him
a taste of his own medicine, whipping him senseless. The Chief Inspector tries to calm Zhang Fei
down by singing Liu Bei’s praises but his words fall on deaf ears. Liu Bei and Guan Yu interrupt the
whipping. Zhang Fei is in a rage and
they try to restrain him and calm him down.

Liu Bei faces the
Chief Inspector and apologizes for Zhang Fei’s behaviour while Guan Yu unties him. The inspector is unrepentant. He declares that he is the representative of
the Mikado (Emperor) and as such any action against him is in effect also
against the Mikado. Liu Bei declares
that if people like the Chief Inspector represent the Mikado then he has lost
respect for the Mikado. The Chief
Inspector screams like a banshee causing Liu Bei to lose his usual cool and
slap him across the face. The inspector’s
men intervene, but they are no match for our three heroes. As the inspector trembles with fear and
horror, they tie up all his accomplices.

Night has
fallen. Our three heroes are on the
run. They only have two horses, but somehow
White Dragon frees himself and joins them.
It is a stormy night. White
Dragon is slowing them down because of his injuries. Zhang Fei thinks they should get a new horse
in the next village, but White Dragon shows his displeasure. White Dragon then takes Liu Bei off
somewhere, the others decide to hide.

The sounds of
their horses are heard by passing soldiers, but due to the storm they think
it’s unlikely that the men would be hanging about here so they continue on
their way. Lightning strikes an outcrop
of rocks causing a landslide that buries the soldiers and their horses. The three heroes believe that White Dragon
must have magical powers because his actions kept them safe from the
rocks.

This incident
convinces Liu Bei that he should not run away but instead go to the capital
city where he can confront the root of the corruption that is infecting the
kingdom. It is nobler to die doing the
right thing than to live with injustice.
Zhang Fei says that Mei Fan and Sūrin are likely also in the capital and
he is concerned about their welfare. The
three plan to go to the capital together, pledging their continued fealty one
another. A title card tells us that the
men will go to the capital under cover.

Episode 4, Part 2

History Interlude

Shinsuke Shimada introduces a video of the streets of modern China. Ryūsuke
Matsumoto thinks
they might have the wrong footage, but Shimada laughs and says that the footage
is of modern day Luoyang. In the
time of the Three Kingdoms, Luoyang was the capital in the south and Peking
(today’s Beijing) was the capital in the north.
Approximately 170km southwest of Beijing is the “furosato” (homeland) of
Liu Bei. [In this region (today’s Mancheng
County), the tombs of Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of
Zhongshan(劉勝 りゅうしょう
/ 中山靖王 ちゅうさんせいおう) and his wife Dou Wan were found in 1968. Both Liu Sheng and Dou Wan were found in well
preserved Jade Burial Suits (金縷玉衣/きんるぎょうくい). These ceremonial suits, used for the burial
of royal members of the Han Dynasty, and were believed to bestow immortality on
the wearer. Liu Sheng’s suit is made of 2498 pieces of jade that were sewn
together with gold wire.] Shimada jokingly
reprimands Matsumoto for his ignorance as he explains how the Jade Suits were
built.

He points out that
Liu Bei is a descendent (子孫/shison) of Liu Sheng. [It is said that Liu Bei was a descendant of
Liu Sheng by his son Liu Zhen. Others claim that him as a descendent of the
Marquis Linyi, who was also a descendent of Emperor Jing (Liu Sheng’s father).
This distinguished lineage may explain why he commands the respect of
many influential people such as Cao Cao, despite the fact that he grew up in
impoverished circumstances.]

Story

“As we speak,”
says Shimada, “Liu Bei is entering Luoyang (Rakuyō). . .” Our
three heroes enter the capital in disguise – they seem to be dressed in peasant
costumes, with wide-brimmed straw hats resembling sombreros (perhaps it is the
spaghetti-western style music that suggests this association for us). They discover wanted posters of themselves
outside a local watering hole. Zhang Fei
complains that the likeness is not as handsome as himself. They decide to split up and find accommodation
separately so as not to draw attention to themselves.

Our comic relief, Shin-Shin and Ron-Ron, are walking down the street
with soldiers in tow. They speculate on
what great futures are open to them in the capital – “At thing rate, I could
even become Shōgun” says Shin-Shin. Ron-Ron
responds by affectionately calling him an idiot and slapping him in jest. Their banter about their growing connections
/ influence is interrupted by Liu Bei on White Dragon pushing past them. They recognise the horse immediately and deduce
that the rider must be Liu Bei “Gentoku”. Chasing after him, they shout excitedly “If we
catch him, we will be rewarded!” They
catch up and try to hold him down, but White Dragon kicks them away. Liu Bei manages to outwit them until he gets
stuck in a dead end. But who should open
the garden gate to provide him with an escape?
The lovely Sūrin (electric
guitar riff!). She hurries them into a
hiding spot. Shin-Shin and Ron-Ron bang
on the garden door, Sūrin answers and pretends she hasn’t seen Liu Bei. They believe her and leave.

Sūrin is apparently living with a distant relative. She says they will welcome Liu Bei as a guest,
but he tells her that he is undercover. He
asks her to help him in concealing his identity.
Meanwhile, at the saké shop, Zhang Fei surprises Mei Fan. She is shocked to see him: “You've gotten yourself into trouble again,
haven’t you?” she banters with him, “I've seen the wanted posters.” Zhang Fei praises Mei Fan for choosing a
location that is perfect for him to spy on the goings-on and she tells him to
bugger off in no uncertain terms. Their
bickering is interrupted by the arrival of soldiers. They greet her by name, and she returns their
greeting, pretending that nothing is going on.
Zhang Fei is hiding under her skirts and praises her.

Outside Lu Zhi’s
Residence:

Guan Yu is
chopping wood. The elderly Wang Yun comes outside to talk to him,
but gets called away by the arrival of a guest.
Guan Yu seems suspicious about the goings on inside the house.

The next morning,
Sūrin and Liu Bei are in the stables with the horses. They discuss the fact that the Emperor is
sick and has apparently has written his intentions for the succession. The two rival factions are desperate to know
who he has chosen as his heir. The
document is being held by Lu Zhi, Liu Bei’s mentor (aka Roshoku Sensei). Cut to a brief scene that shows the political
pressure Lu Zhi is under from Jian Shuo and He Jin.

Later, our three heroes are boldly walking through town again, albeit
in their disguises. Liu Bei tells his
“brothers” about what he has learned and his fears for Lu Zhi’s safety. We soon see, that his fears are valid when
the top powerful eunuch Jian Shuo bluntly tells Lu Zhi that if he doesn’t hand
over the testament, that his life will be in danger. Jian Shuo clearly has no fear of reprisals as
he openly threatens Lu Zhi, but the learned man refuses to bow to
pressure. Just as they begin to threaten
violence, they are interrupted by someone telling him that his presence is
needed elsewhere. Jian Shuo is shaking
with rage as they leave. Lu Zhi realises
that the person who has come to his rescue is a woman, she turns and we see
that it is Sūrin. He wonders why she would risk her safety for
him.

Lu Zhi returns home to find He Jin searching his property for the
document. They threaten to torture him
to get what they want. The proceedings
are interrupted by the gate being blasted open. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, their heads wrapped in
white turbans to conceal their identities, ride into the rescue. A battle ensures in the garden between the
soldiers and our two heroes. He Jin and
his second in command grab Lu Zhi to take him hostage, but before they can act
further, White Dragon, with a white-turbaned Liu Bei on his back, magically
jump the fence. Liu Bei throws a dagger
into He Jin’s shoulder, grabs Lu Zhi and they return from whence they
came. He Jin shouts “Kill them! Kill
them!” (Korose! Korose!) to his soldiers, but our three heroes have
vanished.

Lu Zhi is relieved to see his student again. He realises that Liu Bei was the one who sent
Sūrin to his rescue
earlier and is overjoyed. Liu Bei tells
him that he is not currently using his own name. Lu Zhi tells him that life in the capital had
become a living hell with all the evil-doings going on. Seeing Liu Bei and his comrades standing up
for what is right has given him hope.
White Dragon interrupts their discussion with a neigh to warn them that
danger is approaching. Liu Bei puts Lu
Zhi in a boat and sends him up river to safety.
Lu Zhi has a place to hide, he tells Liu Bei not to worry about him
anymore.

He Jin arrives
with Cao Cao at his side. They are
trying to figure out who is responsible for whisking Lu Zhi away. Cao Cao doesn’t think the eunuchs are skilled
enough to have pulled it off. They spot
Liu Bei next to the river with his large straw hat hiding his identity. He Jin demands that Liu Bei look at him directly. He raises his head and Cao Cao recognises him
immediately. He Jin asks Cao Cao if he
knows this man. Cao Cao lies and says
“no”. They move on. Liu Bei wonders why Cao Cao has decided to
hide help him.